Fiber, the indigestible part of a plant -- or what Grandma used to call "roughage" -- will keep you going in more ways than one. While fiber's best-known characteristic is keeping your bowels regular, fiber offers other benefits that help to keep you healthy. Most Americans don't eat nearly enough fiber; while the recommended daily intake is between 20 and 35 g, most Americans eat only around 15 g per day, the Harvard School of Public Health reports.
Regularity
Fiber comes in two types: soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fiber has the biggest effect on maintaining your gastrointestinal, or GI, health by keeping things moving, so to speak. Insoluble fiber increases bulk and promotes movement of stool through the GI tract. Most foods that are high in fiber contain a mixture of soluble and insoluble fiber. Foods highest in insoluble fiber include green vegetables, fruits eaten with the skin, nuts, seeds and bran. Foods normally take around 39 hours for women and 31 hours for men to pass through the intestines, eHealthMD reports. Fiber helps speed up this process.
Decreases Heart Disease
Soluble fiber dissolves to form a gel-like material that binds to fatty acids, cholesterol and bile for excretion in the stool. This action decreases cholesterol absorption and lowers serum cholesterol levels. Lowering cholesterol is one way that dietary fiber helps protect against heart disease. Increasing fiber intake may also lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation -- two other contributors to heart disease. A study review conducted by researchers from Wake Forest University Health Sciences and reported in the May 2008 issue of "Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases" found that eating 2.5 or more servings per day of whole-grain foods decreased the risk of cardiovascular disease by 21 percent.
Lowers Blood Sugar
Because foods that contain fiber often have a low glycemic index, eating a diet high in fiber may help lower blood glucose levels. Low-glycemic index foods help keep blood sugar levels stabilized. Fiber slows the absorption of foods through the intestine, which prevents the rapid rise in blood sugar that can harm diabetics. A Harvard School of Public Health review of studies, reported in the August 2007 "PLoS Medicine," indicates that diets high in whole grains, particularly bran, decrease the risk of diabetes.
Decreases Diverticulitis
As you age, small pouches in the intestinal wall, called diverticula, develop. Inflammation can occur in the diverticula, causing an often painful and possibly dangerous condition called diverticulitis. Diverticulitis is common, affecting as many as 33 percent of people over 45 and 66 percent of those over 85, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Increased fiber intake can decrease the risk of diverticulitis. In one Harvard study reported in the April 1998 "Journal of Nutrition," a diet high in insoluble fiber reduced the risk of diverticulitis in men by 40 percent.
References
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fiber: Start Roughing It!
- MayoClinic.com; Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet; November 2009
- "Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases"; Whole Grain Intake and Cardiovascular Disease: A Meta-Analysis; P.B. Mellen, et al.; May 2008
- HealthCastle; Fiber 101: Soluble Fiber vs Insoluble Fiber; Gloria Tsang; November 2005
- eHealthMD: What Are the Health Benefits of Fiber?
- "PLoS Medicine"; Whole Grain, Bran, and Germ Intake and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective Cohort Study and Systematic Review; J.S. de Munter, et al.; August 2007
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